Today, the sun is out brightly and the big snowstorm is history. Will waited until the snow had stopped as it does little good to plow a mile and half of driveway, only to have to do it again in a few hours. There was no big rush to get out anyway. He went out while I was washing dishes, plowing around the yard, then hitting the driveway. But he didn’t come back as soon as I thought he should. Maybe he was over, plowing Drew out? I waited. Then I got THE call. He was stuck on ice, way out in the driveway. I grabbed the shovel and bag of kitty litter and headed out the already plowed driveway. Yep, there Will was, backed into a snowbank with the driveway tires on glare ice. He’d plowed up a big wad of heavy snow, and it shoved him sideways. When he tried to back off the snow, he got stuck in the snowbank.
Tossing some kitty litter under the road-side tires and doing a little shoveling on the snowbank side, he was able to gently creep out. And on up the driveway he went, plowing that foot of snow plus the drifts, off into the woods. He had already plowed Drew out so we were all set.
On Saturday, son, David came out. We had given him Old Blue, our trusty ¾ ton 1985 Chevy pickup, which was his dad’s and my old truck we’d moved here from Montana in 2004. It had been “retired” since 2017 and just sitting there, waiting for a rebuild. The paint was the old EPA approved stuff that slowly fell off. But the truck was a sweet runner and has no “modern” electronics on it. Will and David got it started, even with gas that was 9 years old, with no stabilizer added. It didn’t take much at all to get Blue started! It had kind of sunk in the ground so Will ended up having to give it a boost out with the Kubota as the clutch was wonky. But, once out, David drove it down to the end of the driveway and turned around, heading back. The clutch loosened up and Blue was “back in the saddle.” David is very happy!
Drew got the chicken coop cleaned out a few days ago and bedded down with fresh pine shavings. The old shavings are now piled up out in the small garden next to the coop. When it thaws out, I’ll till them in and the garden will be oh so happy. The coop looks great and I’m sure the “girls” are happy too. We’re getting about 7 eggs a day as they’re starting to lay. When I went to Walmart today, the only eggs they had in the cooler were the expensive ones. All empty below. Holy cow!
— Jackie
David looks happy by Ol Blue and hope Ol Blue has more adventures in it’s life.
So nice Drew cleaned out the chicken coop and I am sure he will be a huge help this spring.
Have a good weekend Jackie.
Sue
What neat old truck. Filled with memories. Had a 79 Chevy right outa high school. Had to upgrade with the second baby’mandatory carsest ‘ rule didn’t have sympathy for farm families. Today 4 door pickup is the standard family rig. 20! Eggs yesterday outof 26 hens! @7$ a chick I am praying for a few to go broody. That second chil grew into a fine young man who is using the incubator (we used to share) he purchased as a 4H ‘er. Sure nice to see the young families returning to the farm. No matter the size one farms. Growing and raising our own food is getting more important. Sure glad everyone sounds ok after the storm s . Nebraska so sad.Seeing the snow around you makes me thankful iv green grass daffodils and,for today sunshine. Thank you Jackie for sharing your self and your family have a good day
I was sure glad to get Old Blue back running again and that David will be fixing it up slowly, as he can afford it. Lots of good memories with that old truck. Over 300,000 miles on the engine! I wouldn’t be scared to hop in it and drive to Montana.
Yes, growing your own food is getting vital for those who can. Prices keep rising in the stores and all that food is full of chemicals we don’t need in our bodies!
I’ll sure be glad to see green grass again! And FLOWERS!!
Yes! Flowers!
Snow here Southern Wi with 8 inch. The ground is no longer frozen with previous warm up. If you get off my driveway you can get stuck by underlying mud. It’s a winter wonderland again. The birds are hammering by feeders. I had start cleaning out my two chicken coops but didn’t get it done. My peppers in house are thriving. Tomato seeds are planted. Crazy how my wood pile is shrinking. I can’t imagine how much locals are paying for propane to heat their homes. With the travel craziness I’m glad we’re not going anywhere. Our home is our castle and no need to venture out. Your old truck is a treasure as it is EMP safe. I love a truck with NO electronics. An individual cannot work on any of the new cars. Pretty pictures of your homestead
I’m doing my tomatoes today. I had planned on doing it earlier but you know how that goes. Yesterday, the “girls” and Drew helped pack seeds all day while I made labels and seeded out three more Hopi Pale Grey squash. Looks like more pies in the future!
I love our home and I couldn’t pry Will away with a very big crowbar.
We love it that Old Blue can be worked on at home. When you open the hood, you can look down and see the ground! Try that with a modern vehicle.
Our wind was 68mph with blowing snow but it passed through pretty fast and has melted off already here in eastern Washington. It will be almost 60 in a few days and was in the 50s before this storm passed thru for the two-day show. Such crazy weather! I am just thankful that our trees haven’t set fruit buds yet. A freeze would end the hopes of fruit fur sure.
We are all cringing at the thought of our overall mild dry winter and lack of snow pack… it looks very threatening for a strong possibility of nasty fires this summer. Lots of fuel and dry as a bone:( But I will plant a garden and hope for the best!
It is great that your fruit trees haven’t set buds yet. We often get that nasty late spring frost and there goes all of our tree fruit and some bush fruit like blueberries. We, too, have had a dry winter and are scared of a droughty spring too. Surrounded by woods, a fire season is pretty scary.
Old Blue looks kinda like an old (’88?) 3/4 ton crew cab Chevy that I had! In some ways I wish I still had it.
Talking chickens…….. I was in Tractor Supply yesterday……… Pullet chicks are running $6-7 EACH. OMG! I want some chicks (need to set up my brooder area), but will wait until they are on clearance ($1 each or less………).
As to Will needing a shovel and some kitty litter…….. Uh………. Should he not have those in the plow truck in case you are not able to answer THE call? LOL
Our weather is Bi-polar and isn’t taking it’s meds!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Our weather (N. Central TX) was up in the 80’s then took a NOSE DIVE. We had two nights that put ice onto the troughs! Great that I brought in the aloe veras! Now….. we are about to break a record high in a few more days……. Record high? 93…………. Yup. What a roller coaster. For you folks in the northern tier of states………. prayers to you. If the weather is to be nasty, hunker down, put another log into the stove, stay warm and make a big pot of comfort food!
Yep, the price of chicks and chickens is now crazy. I’m so glad we hatched out a big batch last year, which are now starting to lay.
And, Yep, Will should have had a shovel and kitty litter in the truck but he knows I’m never far from the phone when he’s plowing the drive. Stuff happens in an instant out there.
I think everyone’s weather is bi-polar, off meds! I can’t think of any place with “normal” weather.
When our weather’s forecasted to be nasty, we get chores done and find lots to do inside.
Our storm over the weekend in Wi left us with almost 3 feet of snow!! Still working at clearing that out around the house and out by the mailbox. Can’t wait for the big melt.
Holy cow!!! Three FEET! Wow! That’s nasty to clean up, isn’t it. Just hope the melt doesn’t happen all at once. Can you say “flooding”? Ish.
Love the pickup, the hens, the driveway!
I have a question about the pine shavings…do you use them only in specific spots or is it a small amount so doesn’t change the soil acidity?
Also, do tilled-in tree leaves affect that level?
Glad you could get the supplies to Will and have Mission Accomplished! Thanks for more good ideas.
We use them in the small garden off the chicken yard where we only grow corn and squash. It has so much nitrogen from the manure, it doesn’t affect the soil, other than to keep it loose and fertilized. No, tilled-in tree leaves are one of the best additions to a garden. I have used, literally, tons, on my old garden down by Sturgeon Lake, MN. It was solid red clay and when we left, 20 years later, the soil was fluffy and black.
Winds were howling here Sunday fortunately only a few inches of snow in east NE. But enough to make icy whiteouts causing 30 car pileups. Instead of keeping warm by the stove we were out in it most of the afternoon. One of the cows the neighbors pasture here decided this was the day to have her calf! When I found him he was covered in ice. The owner came and my dh & I helped make a place for him & mama in our old dirt floor garage (no barn). Heat lamps, hairdryer got him thawed out. This morning he & mama were doing well and went back with the rest of the cattle. So good ending here. Wish it was better for the western part of Nebraska, so dry & wildfires in these high winds have burned over 700,500 acres. Many ranches & farms destroyed and a lady trying to escape didn’t make it. So very sad. Please think of and pray for all those 1st responders working so hard in horrid weather all over the country! Stay safe and warm, Peace.
We have been praying for all folks affected by the wildfires. That’s so tough to deal with. I’m so glad you found the calf!! Will has stayed in our barn with a new calf, toweling him dry and both buried in straw, nearly all night to keep his ears from freezing. I woke up to a loud MAWWW in the living room. Yep, the calf was wandering around, looking for MOM. All was well. We named him Frosty.
Snow & wind on Tug Hill Plateau in NY. Was 60F degrees yesterday, and today 18F with -6 windchill, about 10+ inches of new snow and a whole lot of wind.
Isn’t the weather just crazy??? Hopefully it will let up soon.
I made an early morning trip about 30 miles away for a dermatologist appointment and came home to bring in more wood for the stove, do chores and just set honey/whole wheat bread to set, picked up my phone to check emails and fortunately there you were. What a relief to see you’re okay. I watched the weather up your way and knew you would be good as you are prepared for the weather, but still so good to read your blog. Spring is coming, along with weather interruptions, but God is good and I appreciate all of His care. I wish you had time to write a blog every day. I enjoy the visits so much.
I enjoy doing the blogs too. I feel like you are all my extended family and I love hearing what you’re doing too.
Ohhh, honey wheat bread!! Now I’m so hungry!!
Jackie, your place looks like a winter wonder-land. Here in far north California, we’re an hour south of Mt. Shasta in the Sacramento Valley foothills and we’re having extremely unusual 90s this week. The birds, grass, and orchard are very happy, but 2 months ahead of time. Big ag in the valley will barely get their allotment of water. The last storm in the high sierra did finally get the snow that will supply big ag in the sacramento and the san joaquin for a lot of the food that feeds the country. But, never knowing what weather will happen next, it’s not safe to put in my vegetable garden until May. That’s okay, because I’ll be at my dad’s in April, anyway.
I used to haul a lot of produce out of Salinas……… Yes, big ag. With this crazy weather every one needs at least a small bed of some sort of produce to assist them in surviving. Transportation will also be tough with fuel prices……. Also all the chemical fertilizers that big ag uses are in question. Folks, plant what you can!
I wish more folks realized how tenuous our food supply really is. A big drought in produce country, storms, flooding or who knows what, can eliminate a lot of food from the stores. That’s one reason we will always plant a big garden! Yep, a lot of folks don’t realize all that chemical fertilizer big ag uses may be at big risk this year, also lessening the end result and higher prices in the stores. Plant! Plant! Plant!
That is a truck to keep and treasure! We had 31 inches of snow in this blizzard, and roads are still not clear. It started Saturday, everything is cancelled. The snow is above my windows, as drifts are probably 15- 20 feet high! Thankfully, I stocked up on Friday so I am content. My order for 5 of Wilbur Smith’s latest books arrived, so I am reading and actually enjoying the beauty. If I wanted to go outside, I would need a periscope!! Keep warm and safe, and keep writing!
Wow, 31 inches with wind! That’s tough, for sure. I remember a long time ago, we had a bad 3 day blizzard that dumped four feet in 3 days, plus blowing. The radio was telling snowmobilers to stay away from the power lines. The snow was THAT deep. They couldn’t plow the roads but used dump trucks and front-end loaders to clear the roads. We were snowed in for a week and half! Doing chores was interesting, for sure, crawling over the deep snowbanks to the barns.
We got 9 inches of snow and a lot of wind. Better half was out delivering election supplies today – it was dicey at times. Thankfully the farthest precinct was on yesterday’s route – rain is better than snow. Better half did pack a shovel.
Long day tomorrow as we both do our civic duty and work election day. I am going to drop multiple emails suggesting our state push the primary to May. I think we’ll get more people willing to be election judges as well as working deliveries. I had two judges that just did not have passable roads for set-up this afternoon. We’re short a judge in one precinct to boot and one will likely have another not so great drive in the morning so I may be doing double duty until he gets there.
Voters are more apt to vote in the primary when the weather isn’t a roll of the dice.
I blazed a few paths in my yard this morning. When I went out not quite six hours later, the paths had drifted over. The winds have died down thankfully, giving the plows time to clear drifts. NNW winds do a number on the east-west roads.
Kitty litter – what would we do without it?
We too had ice under the snow. I’ll do some shoveling Wednesday morning. We can get out of our driveway (road to the main road has been nicely plowed).
The garden is under a nice bed of snow again. I suspect most will melt given the temps coming this Friday/weekend.
We’ll be getting fertilizer here soon as it ain’t looking good.
Wow, that was quite a storm, wasn’t it??? I agree, if elections were in May, more people could get out to vote, not to mention election officials making it.
We’re lucky, our fertilizer is always out there, in the making. Cows never stop making it! I feel bad for folks who have big ag farms and depend on commercial fertilizer, which may not happen in time for planting.